THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS IN KNOXVILLE and THE KNOXVILLE LATIN MASS COMMUNITY Return of the Latin Mass to the Diocese of Knoxville
The modern-era
traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Knoxville dates back to early 2004
when then-Bishop Joseph Kurtz granted an indult
giving the special permission then required for celebration of the older form
of Mass, and invited priests from the FSSP parish in Atlanta to commute to
St. Stephen Church in Chattanooga, whose then-pastor Fr. P. J. McGinnity generously offered to host a monthly 5 pm
Sunday TLM there. The Traditional Latin Mass Returns to the City of
Knoxville
In 2005 Bishop
Kurtz approved a 1:30 pm Sunday TLM every other week at St. John Neumann
Church, whose then-pastor Fr. John Dowling graciously agreed to host it. The
opening paragraph of an account (click here) of that first
Knoxville Latin Mass (photos here): On the first Sunday
of Advent in 2005, about 275 excited Catholics gathered at St. John
Fr. Orr and Fr.
Dowling preparing for holy communion at the first
biweekly Knoxville TLM Summorum Pontificum and
the Weekly Latin Mass in Knoxville
On July 7, 2007
Pope Benedict XVI issued motu proprio the historic Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum that returned the ancient form of the
traditional Latin Mass to regular status in the Church’s liturgy in order to
foster “an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church”. Fr. Dowling
responded promptly by scheduling a regular weekly 1:30 pm Sunday Latin Mass
at St. John Neumann Church beginning with the actual implementation of Summorum Pontificum
on September 14, 2007 (click here for photos of that
first weekly TLM in Knoxville).
At first weekly TLM
in Knoxville After the old SJN
church was closed and while the new SJN church was under construction, this
weekly 1:30 pm Sunday Mass was transferred to St. Therese Church in Clinton
where Fr. Orr was then pastor. In April 2008, Fr. Xavier Mankel
generously agreed to host our first solemn high Mass with an overflow
attendance of about 475 during the centennial celebration of Holy Ghost
Church (photos here). Opening procession for first solemn high
Mass at Holy Ghost Church When the Most Rev. Richard F. Stika was
appointed as Bishop of Knoxville, he appointed Fr. Orr as associate pastor of
Holy Ghost and moved the Knoxville Latin Mass to Holy Ghost Church, where
Msgr. Mankel as pastor graciously added our 1:30
Latin Mass to the parish’s regular Sunday schedule, its Sunday morning Mass
schedule having been set in concrete—as literally inscribed on the church’s
foundation stone—since the present church was built in 1926. Formation of the Knoxville Latin Mass Community
Along the way the Knoxville Latin Mass
Community was established to serve as a vehicle to receive contributions covering the special expenses
of our Knoxville Latin Mass—apart from indirect support and parish overhead
provided from regular parish offertory funds (with no direct parish support
of the Latin Mass requested or received)—including all expenditures for
additional items needed for reverent and beautiful celebration of the
traditional Latin Mass, including: Priestly vestments and cassocks and
surplices for altar servers Music expenses including stipends for
choirmaster and organists, workshop travel expense,
etc. Equipment expense including altar missals and furnishings (e.g., missal stands, altar cards
and altar linens), candlesticks, processional torches, bells and thuribles, etc. Missals,
missalettes, and propers
leaflets for congregational use Stipends
for visiting and substitute Latin Mass priests Expenses for special events (e.g. the recent
first solemn Latin Mass and reception)
Cloth-of-gold
vestments For example, the costs of our several
13-piece solemn high Mass vestment sets in the various liturgical colors
(gold, white, red, green, and black) ranged from about $5,000 each to somewhat
more than that, with a comparable expenditure for additional requiem Mass
furnishings including a black funeral pall and standing floor candlesticks;
our ombrellino for Eucharistic processions and our
gold altar crucifix cost around $2000 each; an altar missal or a set of 6
large altar candles may cost $500, and so forth. The ombrellino The value of the total property inventory of
the Knoxville Latin Mass Community (KLMC) is somewhat more than $50,000, and
its annual budget had typically totaled $20,000 or so. The KLMC assisted in
the formation of the Tri-Cities Latin Mass Community (TCLMC) which supports
the Latin Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Johnson City, and the KLMC budget
includes the TCLMC budget since the Knoxville Community handles also the
financial affairs of the Tri-Cities Community. About the Knoxville Latin Mass Community
Click here for a brief statement
of the Community’s general purpose and goals. The Knoxville Latin Mass Community (KLMC) is
incorporated as a non-profit organization under the laws of the state of Tennessee
and is approved under IRS section 501(c)(3) for receipt of tax-deductible
contributions toward the support of the traditional Latin Mass
in the Knoxville area. The KLMC operates in accordance
with its charter and bylaws under the oversight of a Board of Directors which
elects officers and new members as needed. |